Product Review: Crazy Modeler PE Ferrari Emblems

Crazy Modeler recently sent me another new product to review- their new photoetched self-adhesive Ferrari emblems.

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Two different sets are availible, both in 1/24.

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The first set (Crazy Modeler EK-0001) has logos for Revell's 612 Scaglietti, and Fujimi's 550 and 575 Maranello kits (front engine).

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The second set (Crazy Modeler EK-0002) contains logos for the F40, F50, 355, and 360 (mid engine). Tamiya of course makes kits of the F40, F50, and 360; Fujimi has done the 355 and F40; and Revell also has an F50 and 360.


What these sets have-

Lots and lots of shiney Ferrari logos. The front engine set has just about every marking I can think of to do any of these kits, including mirrors for each car, boot lid emblems, and glove box emblems. The mid engine set has mirrors for all four cars, and engine lid/glove box logos for the 355- GTS, Berlinetta, and Spyder. It also has mini F50 logos for the glove box and air intake box and the same for the F40, although I'm not sure where they would be placed on the F40.

Both sets also include many, many Ferrari logos, Pininfarina logos, and Cavalino's. The great herd of chrome ponies is particularly impressive- they go from huge to the almost invisible. Shoehorns and cell phones aside, the large size seems perfect for using on a display base for any of these cars- there are similarly sized Ferrari logos and logos for the individual car models to go with these ponies. The teeny tiny size would probably be terrific for wheel centers (chrome pony on a black circle would look sharp), and gas/oil filler caps. And there are extras of everything.

What these sets don't have-

I'm nitpicking now I know, but there are a couple of things that might have been nice to have included. The first is shifter gates- as Ferrari's milled shifter gates are almost as recognizable as their Cavalino's, these could have been well used. Also, the mid engine set doesn't have glove box logos for the 360. Also, glove box and/or engine lid logos for the 328, 348, 430, 288 GTO, and Testarossa would have been terrific- but then I suppose so would logos for BMW's, Lamborghini's, Porsches, Hondas, Subarus, and on and on and on....

All right then. Now that we see what we have to work with, time for a test drive!

Both of these sets are of course nearly identical in concept to the self adhesive PE logos that Tamiya has been including in some of their kits for several years now. Until now, they're been the only manufacturer I've known of the make PE logos in this self adhesive format. They tend to look great when put on, but my experince has been that they're not the easiest thngs to work with.

Crazy Modeler's logos work just like Tamiya's- each logo is sandwiched between a clear top sheet and an opaque bottom sheet. To apply, simply cut out the desired logo and peel off the opaque back sheet. Then, carefully place the logo on your model, press it down firmly, and gently peel off the clear topsheet leaving the logo stuck (hopefully) to the model.

My experince with Tamiya emblems is that they often don't stick as well as I would like. When the top sheet is pulled off of the model, the logo more often then not stays attached to the top sheet. I often have to resort to peeling the logo from the top sheet with the point of a sharp knife and placing them with tweezers. I've always assumed this is due to the fact that it's hard to get anything to stick well to a polished, waxed surface. Anyways, I was curious how well Crazy Modeler's logos would stick. Fortunately, I just happen to have enough Ferrari's running about my workbench to give them a real try.

Here are the logos included with Tamiya's 360 kit, compared to the Crazy Modeler set. (The missing logos from the Tamiya set have already been applied to the plenums on my 360's engine. They're the same size as the small Ferrari logos on the CM sheet.)

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Looks like a good match. The CM logos may be slightly larger, but I couldn't objectively find much difference when comparing them with dividers.

First, I tried one of the Ferrari logos on the 360 engine lid. The lid was freshly waxed with Zymol (what I would put on my real 360, if I happened to have one) to test the adhesiveness of the logo.

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Here it is being positioned- I use the dividers to check centering. The clear top film seems stickier than Tamiya's top film usually is. I relocated the logo several times before I was happy with it, and the sticky top film kept the logo in place without having to press the logo down to the paint.

Then press it down, and just peel the top film away...

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I was pleasantly surprized to find that the logo stayed put- well stuck in place after I pressed it down. Also, the top film didn't leave any marks where it had stuck to the paint. Nice!

Alright, on to the next test. Tamiya doesn't include a Cavalino for the back of their Mythos- instead, they include a Mythos script logo. I've seen pics of the Mythos both ways and personally, I like the Cavalino there better. I freshly waxed the Mythos with Tamiya wax- would it prove any more problematic than the Zymol?

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No! The Cavalino stays stuck down, and the film peels off easily.

http://img309.imageshack.us/img309/4408/cm1102sr.jpg

I'm impressed. Honestly when I first became aware of the Crazy Modeler logos, I had only hoped that they might perform as well as the Tamiya logos. Instead, I'm happy to find that they seem to outperform the Tamiya logos- the CM logos are actually easier to work with.

On to the mirrors.

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I tried out the wing mirrors for the 360 to check fit. They were a bit more difficult to get in place- the kit parts are rather hollow, so there's not much for the PE parts to stick to. Here I did have to peel the clear film away with a knife tip- but once I got them in place and pressed them down, they fit and stuck just fine, and they look terrific.

Overall, I would strongly recommend these sets for anyone buiding a 1/24 Ferrari. The sheer number of logos included makes them a terrific value. The fact that they stick better and are easier to use than the similar Tamiya logos make them excellent products in my opinion.

Good review, and I've already got a set myself. In fact, all the CM products I've purchased so far appear to be of a very good quality, and I've been very impressed with his P/E.

I hope CM is going to extend his product range, as at the moment he is really a quality, not quantity type of aftermarket scale model car products producer, yet the prices seem to reflect cheapness. This isn't the case at all. Even his packaging tells you your in for some good products.

I can recommend anyone give his goods a go, and despite there being a few saying he was stealing ideas, who the hell cares..?? His stuff is good, at an affordable price.. £6.00 for a full fret of ducati P/E, or £4.50 for all those logos? Sensible prices, deserve to sell well IMO.

Thanks for the review MPWR, I should really give a review of the ducati EP set he sells, as I've been well impressed so far. Mind you, you can see the set being used first hand from my WIP, so that’s as good as a review. LOL

great review!

The prancing horses look more detailed on the crazy modeler set thatn on the Tamiya set they look really good. Maybe beoing slightly larger they will stand out more on the model.

Did he send you them free of charge to test?

Crazy modeler, you should make this for regular cars like Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Chevy and some popular logos like Supra... I'm sure they'll sell pretty well.

Crazy modeler, you should make this for regular cars like Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Chevy and some popular logos like Supra... I'm sure they'll sell pretty well.

Yeah that would be great.

awesome review, very helpful

Nice review :)

very nice!!